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A volunteer fire department is answerable to the government entity that created the fire district the department serves, an official with the New Mexico State Fire Marshal’s office clarified Thursday.

Asked by the Ruidoso News for information about volunteer departments and how they are formed, funded and operate, New Mexico’s Deputy State Fire Marshal Vernon Muller responded through the Public Regulation Commission’s public information office.

“Eligibility for certification and funding from the New Mexico State Fire Marshal’s Division requires that creation of a fire department be established within the jurisdiction to which the department serves,” he wrote. “This is accomplished through local government resolution and/or ordinance.”

The town of Carrizozo, which is eligible for certification and funding from the state fire marshal’s division, would be the entity creating and establishing a fire department within the jurisdiction the department services in the case of the Carrizozo Volunteer Fire Department.

As to whether a department must be responsible to the mayor, Muller wrote that the organizational structure of local government varies and typically is determined within the local government’s authority.

In the event of a mass resignation, the creating local government entity generally is advised to contact neighboring departments about coverage for emergency response situations as well as to begin a recruitment and/or retention effort to rebuild the current department, he wrote.

“Agreements for coverage are typically in place as part of a department’s emergency contingency plans,” he wrote.

As for the effect of a mass walk-out, Muller wrote that the impacts of not having a minimum of four members respond to all structure fires may have a negative impact on a department’s Insurance Service Office rating that is used by companies in determining insurance premiums.

New Mexico has 365 fire departments certified and eligible to participate in the distribution of money from the state Fire Protection Fund, which is fed by insurance premiums, he wrote.

“Local governments vary in size as well as in the funding option available for operation of their respective department,” Muller wrote. “There is a good majority of local government entities in New Mexico that rely solely on fire protection funds to support fire department operations.”